Parliamentary questions

Mr Brian Monteith

1,042 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

26 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the trunk roads network in each local authority was (a) resurfaced and (b) surface dressed in each of the last five years.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Information about the proportion of the trunk road network that has been resurfaced and surface dressed in each of the last five years can be found in Table 5.3, page 80 of <I>Scottish Transport Statistics No. 21</I> published by the Scottish Executive in 200…

26 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what performance indicators it publishes regarding spending by local authorities on roads.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive does not currently publish any performance indicators on spending by local authorities on local roads. We are, however, supporting the SCOTS local road condition survey which will, over time, provide an accurate assessment of the condit…

20 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which police forces retain the services of a diversity adviser to advise on race equality matters.

Answer · Jim Wallace: All Scottish Police Forces engage advisers on racial equality matters. It is for Chief Constables to decide the method of engagement to ensure they achieve racial equality within their organisation and in the services their force provides.

14 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what support is available to school age children with dyslexia.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Under existing legislation (section 1 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980) education authorities across Scotland must make provision for pupils with special educational needs, including dyslexia. It is therefore the statutory responsibility of the education …

13 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs were of publishing, printing and distributing Scotland's National Cultural Strategy - Annual Report 2002.

Answer · Mike Watson: The cost, including web conversion, for publishing and printing the 2nd Annual Report of the National Cultural Strategy amounts to about £18,000. The report has been disseminated directly, and through cultural agency networks, local authorities and the Execut…

1 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils attained three SCE Higher grades or more at C pass or above by the end of their sixth year in each year since 1992.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The information requested for 1999 onwards is given on page number 7 of <I>Examination Results in Scottish Schools 1999-2001</I>, published by the Scottish Executive in 2001. A copy of this publication is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. n…

1 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the full costs were of printing, publishing and distributing The Scottish Executive Draft Budget 2003-04.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The cost of printing 1,000 copies of the Draft Budget Document 2003-2004 was £5,606.52<P>The publishing costs included the design cost of the document, which was £285.00 and the web conversion cost which was approximately £950.00. <P>The distribution costs ar…

30 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has received about whether any Green Goddess fire engines have broken down during testing and preparations for the impending firefighters' strike and, if so, where and when any such breakdowns occurred.

Answer · Richard Simpson: All Green Goddesses have been subjected to extended testing. Of the 116 deployed to Scotland, all but three have completed these tests satisfactorily. Repairs have now been carried out on the vehicles which failed the tests. In addition, one Green Goddess bro…

28 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children left school with no qualifications in each year from 1992-93 to 1996-97, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The information requested is given in the following publications published by the Scottish Executive Education Department, copies of which are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=608><TR><TD WIDTH="47…

22 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether armed forces personnel expected to stand in during the Fire Brigades Union strike will have access to the existing fire service engines in Stirling, Clackmannanshire and Fife.

Answer · Hugh Henry: Arrangements have been made to enhance the capability of MoD contingency plans by making available a number of red engines ("red goddesses") from the Scottish Fire Service Training School to add to the 110 green goddesses in Scotland. We have also b…

22 Oct 2002 · Written Question

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Annual Recurrent Grant for these years is as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=151><TR><TD WIDTH="44%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>2000-01</TD><TD WIDTH="56%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>£154,029</TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH="44%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>2001-02</TD><TD …

18 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why there is no Scottish School Leavers Survey available that takes account of Higher grade passes after 1995 and whether such surveys (a) have been carried out and, if so, whether it will publish the results and (b) are planned and, if so, for what years.

Answer · Iain Gray: The design of the Scottish School Leavers Survey (SSLS) was changed in 1996 in order to provide better data on the transition of young people from the end of compulsory education to the labour market. A contract was placed in that year to establish cohorts of…

15 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether NHS boards are allowed to retain all monies received from the sale of land and property or whether some or all of such monies are retained by the NHS or any other body at a national level and, if any monies are retained at a national level, whether they may be vired back to the bo…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is given in HDL (2000) 29 and HDL (2001) 15 published by the Scottish Executive Health Department. Copies are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 24753 and 24754).

9 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children left school with no qualifications in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The numbers of school leavers from publicly funded schools with no qualifications at or above SCQF level 3 are shown in the following table.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=398><TR><TD WIDTH="37%" VALIGN="TOP" HEIGHT=16><P></TD><TD WIDTH="13%" …

9 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many special constables there were in (a) Central Scotland Police and (b) Fife Constabulary in each of the last three years.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The numbers requested are given in the following table.<P>Number of Special Constables (Available for Duty)<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=519><TR><TD WIDTH="31%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>Force</TD><TD WIDTH="24%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>September 2000</TD><TD…

7 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the "marriage of the thistle and the rose" in 2003.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Historic Scotland hosted an exhibition entitled The Thistle and the Rose at Stirling Castle from March to May this year, in conjunction with the National Archives of Scotland and supported by Scottish Widows. The exhibition marked the 500th anniversary of the…

25 Sep 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to promote enterprise in Fife.

Answer · Iain Gray: Scottish Enterprise Fife is taking action in line with the direction and priorities set out in the Executive's <I>A Smart, Successful Scotland</I>. This sets out the foundation for sustained improvement in economic performance in Scotland. It focuses on three…

20 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities charge for music tuition and how much each such local authority charges.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The information requested is not held centrally.

20 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was raised through receipts from charges for school music tuition in each of the last three years, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The information requested is not held centrally.

20 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much the 31 cultural co-ordinator pilot programmes will cost and what budget estimate or allocation it has made in respect of rolling out the programmes in the future.

Answer · Elaine Murray: The cultural co-ordinator posts are supported over 2002-03 and 2003-04 by £1.75 million from the Scottish Executive to complement funding from the local authorities. The recent spending review announcement provides additional money to allow the cultural co-or…

19 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28208 by Mr Andy Kerr on 2 September 2002, what factors have contributed to the overall increase in subsidies paid by local authorities to bus operators over the period from 1999-2000 to 2001-02.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Decisions on whether to provide supported bus services are a matter for individual local authorities. I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28208 on 2 September 2002, which demonstrates that expenditure on supported bus services varies betwee…

18 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects work to (a) begin and (b) be completed in respect of upgrading the A80 between Glasgow and Stirling to motorway status.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Following consideration of the corridor study recommendations and the consultation process, preparation work for the A80 upgrade should begin later this year with a view to construction work commencing around 2008, with completion of a scheme to upgrade the A…

18 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26333 by Nicol Stephen on 16 September 2002, what minor changes to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development procedures for student sampling and test administration were made to enable the 2000 Programme for International Student Ass…

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The minor changes are as follows:<P>1. The test administrators were not provided with the type of group training specified by the OECD. This was because the tests were administered by a member of school staff rather than by someone appointed by the contractor…

12 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27511 by Lewis Macdonald on 13 August 2002, what financial or other support it has given to the Society of Chief Officers of Transport in Scotland's condition survey of the local road network and when it expects the report of the survey to be made pu…

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The condition survey of the local road network is being taken forward by the Society of Chief Officers of Transport in Scotland (SCOTS), on behalf of local authorities.<P>An official from the Executive's Network Management Division sits as a member of the sur…

9 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received a request from Stirling Council for financial support towards the hosting of the World Medical and Health Games in 2003 and whether it will give any such support.

Answer · Mike Watson: The Scottish Executive was approached to support the hosting of the World Medical and Health Games in Stirling in 2003. We were not able, however, to offer any financial support for the event.

6 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to establish a special task force to look at the future of Fife's economy.

Answer · Iain Gray: The Executive believes that the identification of local priorities for economic development and the delivery of co-ordinated economic development activities is dealt with most effectively by partnerships of local organisations and agencies. Scottish Enterpris…

5 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will provide a substantive answer to question S1W-26333 lodged on 26 May 2002.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Question S1W-26333 was answered on 16 September 2002.

3 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many nurses have been recruited by the NHS 24 service.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: NHS 24 has recruited 48 full-time equivalent (FTE) nurses for its north of Scotland contact centre and 213 FTE for the west of Scotland centre. Recruitment for the east of Scotland centre will begin in the early part of 2003.

28 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans for transcripts of criminal and civil court cases to be made available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre or the National Library to assist MSPs in their parliamentary and constituency business.

Answer · Jim Wallace: There are currently no plans for transcripts of criminal and civil court cases to be made available in the Parliament's Reference Centre or the National Library.

12 Aug 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Health and Community Care has the ultimate decision over the location of acute hospital services in the Forth Valley NHS Board area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Yes. However, only after careful consideration and close scrutiny of all the information at my disposal will I take a decision on the proposals flowing from NHS Forth Valley's Acute and Related Services Strategy.<P>Before taking that decision, NHS Forth Valle…